Sandra Peabody

Sandra Peabody (born January 11, 1948) is an American producer, writer, acting coach, talent agent, and a retired actress. Trained the Meisner technique directly from acting teacher Sanford Meisner, she is primarily known for her early scream queen roles in 1970s horror films and her subsequent career as an award-winning children's television producer throughout the 1980s and 1990s. She received accolades during her producing career, including an Emmy and CableACE Award. Peabody began her career as a teen actress in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. First appearing in the professional stage production Enter Laughing (1965) as Wanda during her senior year of high school, Peabody later forayed into acting in feature films, such as Misfit (1965) and The Horse Killer (1966). In 1966, Peabody began studying drama at Carnegie Mellon University and Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre with Meisner. After appearing in stage plays such as The Odd Couple, Stop the World – I Want to Get Off (both 1969), and the stage musical Tarot (1970), which opened at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Peabody reached fame when Wes Craven cast her as Mari Collingwood in his controversial directorial debut The Last House on the Left (1972), which was a stressful production for her. Her follow up films were the horror films Voices of Desire (1972) and Massage Parlor Murders! (1973). Peabody achieved further success when she portrayed Minnie Oakley in the stage musical Annie Get Your Gun (1973). After starring in the comedy sexploitation film Teenage Hitchhikers (1974), Peabody made her final acting appearance in the play Tunnel of Love (1977). Subsequently, Peabody taught theatrical training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before moving to Portland, Oregon and launching a successful career as a children's television producer beginning in 1982. Her credits include Get Movin''' (1982) and the Emmy winning Popcorn (1984-1992)—both local programs for the Portland cable television station KATU. She has worked as an acting coach and talent agent since the 1980s.